Screw It and Chug the Whole Damn Bottle
by Natsuhiboshi
Summary: 3 of 3. "Bending does not require acting." Toph finalizes her wisdom. "I am a powerful bender."


Screw It and Chug the Whole Damn Bottle

When the sun rose over the horizon and spilled light over the surrounding area, Zuko wanted to kill himself.

It was dawn.

"I should die. I should jump into the river right now and not swim."

"Shut up, will you? You should be going anyway, Aang already left."

Zuko turned himself over like a fish out of water and set a condescending glare at Toph. "Of course you know about this. Why didn't I see this sooner? You were the last one to talk to him, what the hell did you say?"

"He challenged you to an Agni Kai for Katara you idiot, what do you think I said?"

Zuko groaned. "Why? WHY?"

"Just get up. We want this over and done with before Katara wakes up. Sokka is trying to relax Aang at the clearing."

"Sokka knows?"

"He and I made bets." Toph said listlessly.

"_You made bets_?"

Toph grinned. "Well what do you expect? Other than earthbending people's heads off a thing like this is my only form of entertainment."

"I can't believe you made bets." Zuko hissed.

"I said you'd win."

"Oh. Well in that case…."

* * *

"I can't believe you're doing this." Sokka said with a shake of his head.

"You know, neither can I." Aang said scratching the back of his head. "But Toph was right. She was really right."

"She's always right."

"Which is probably why I'm doing this." Aang answered.

"Works for me." Sokka said with a smile. "But can you really pull it off? Pretending to be angry when in actuality you're not. You're not so blessed in acting, my friend."

Aang smiled. "Bending doesn't require acting."

"They're almost here. So really quickly, just what exactly is the plan?"

"You'll see Sokka. The only thing you have to do is stand to the side and look pretty, all the while rooting for me. If you can do that, you're good."

"Sure. Except for the looking pretty thing."

"We're here!" Toph yelled, throwing her arms forward and to the side in a grand gesture of arrival. Behind her, Zuko stood stiff and tall.

Aang's smiling face made the immediate transition from happy to pissed and his body language screamed rivalry.

He scowled at the firebender and Zuko returned the look with a scowl of his own.

Toph stepped to the side and allowed Zuko to walk to the spot where Aang was. They stood nearly nose to nose. Aang had grown taller in the few months but Zuko was still at least three inches taller. Not that much of height, but still a little something.

In an agreeably swift movement both boys backed away from each other.

"On my word!" Toph said, "Go!"

Zuko didn't even have time to blink before a long tendril of fire was aimed at his face. He ducked sending his own tendril in Aang's direction.

The clearing was filled with vigorous movements that produced heat in every direction and Toph and Sokka watched the two fighting benders.

Zuko was on the offense, his momentum in full swing. Attack after attack was sent at the Avatar and when Aang flipped over Zuko to avoid a punch, Toph recognized the Airbender's cue. "Sokka, let's go."

Grabbing the warrior with one free hand Toph dragged him with her as they rushed back to their camp. "What are we doing going back?"

"I'm going to wake Katara up in a way that is natural but then not. You and I are to pretend that we have no idea what the hell is going on with Zuko and Aang. Katara sees the roar of fire that Aang will set up she'll rush over there just in time to see them fighting and we will act just as horrified and as surpirised. Deal?"

"Like I have a choice."

Toph laughed. "Good answer."

Once the pair arrived at the campsite Toph gestured for Sokka to slip into his sleeping bag. He did so and she followed suit. Once she and Sokka were comfortable, she laid her hand to rest on the bare earth floor and caused an earthquake.

It was small enough to go unnoticed by the benders in the clearing, but strong enough to wake up the blue eyed waterbender.

"Sokka! Sokka!" Katara shouted crawling out of her sleeping bag and to her brother's. "Sokka wake up!"

With a groggy groan that sounded genuine even to Toph Sokka swatted at Katara's hand and mumbled something incoherent before turning over. "Sokka get up! There's an earthquake!"

"Chill Sugar Queen. There WAS an earthquake. It passed half a minute ago." Toph yawned, stretching as if she had spent the entire night in one position.

"It doesn't matter." Katara said her voice a little high. "Sokka! GET UP."

"What?" Sokka muttered irritably. "There was an earthquake." Katara hissed.

"If you refer to it in the past tense then you didn't have to wake me up."

But at that point, Katara was no longer listening to Sokka. She had noticed that the other two sleeping bags were empty. "Where's Zuko and Aang?" she asked.

Toph and Sokka looked at each other as worriedly as possible, trying to suppress the smiles that threatened to grace their lips. "I don't know." Sokka answered.

Just then a flare of red as bright as blood shot up some yards away and Katara gasped. She got up from her sitting position and ran in the direction the flare had come from.

Toph and Sokka followed her. "The plan is set in motion."

* * *

Completely unaware that Toph and Sokka had left ten minutes ago, Zuko was merely concentrating on not getting roasted. Which was hard, considering the fact that Aang apparently learned some new moves from God knows where. 

"She's mine!" the sudden declaration caught Zuko completely off guard and he had to do a momentary hand stand to gain his balance back.

"She doesn't belong to anybody." Zuko retaliated.

"You can't have her."

"I never said I'd take her." Zuko dodged and kicked.

"You'll lose."

"Stop!" the familiar sound of Katara's voice pierced through the soot filled air. "Stop it!"

But Aang didn't. He kept pushing forward and Zuko kept moving back. His gaze moved constantly from Katara to Aang and then back again. Why wasn't Aang stopping?

"Stop i! Aang! Stop!"

Katara was crying. "Stop it!"

"That's enough!" Zuko yelled as he dodged again. "She's yours, Aang. Just stop it. I lose. I give up, just stop."

Aang continued to attack.

"You're making her cry, don't make her cry, I HATE IT WHEN SHE CRIES, _**STOP**_!"

Zuko was on his knees, Aang before him. To the side, Sokka had his arm around Katara and Toph was nodding at Aang.

The airbender offered Zuko his hand. "You showed me, now you show her."

Zuko looked up.

Aang was breathing heavily. "It's easy, man. Just tell you love her. No bending required."

Zuko looked disbelievingly at Aang. "Toph set this whole thing up, didn't she?"

Aang grinned.

* * *

At the campsite Aang was with Toph and Sokka while Katara was tending to Zuko's wounds. 

"Katara…"

"Yes Zuko?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm a pretty powerful bender."

Katara's heart sung in her chest. "I know."

* * *

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait. Tired. Must go. Do R&R.**


End file.
